


Swimming Lessons

by timahina



Series: Arc-V Rare Pair Week 2018 [3]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V
Genre: Arc V Rare Pair Week, Beach Day, F/M, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-10
Updated: 2018-07-10
Packaged: 2019-06-08 06:04:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,293
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15237006
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/timahina/pseuds/timahina
Summary: The last time Serena saw the beach, she got locked up. This time, she wanted a pleasant experience with Reiji.





	Swimming Lessons

“I want to go to the beach.”

Those were the first words out of Serena’s mouth that day. No build-up, tip-toeing or anything of the like. She was direct and within an hour or so of preparations, Reiji postponed his plans for work that day and drove off to the beach with her.

Serena stared at the water for a while, deep in thought and frowning. She stood on the edge, watching the waves come forward and scooching back every time the cold water nearly touched her toes. Reiji found her to be a fascinating study. She didn’t have a swimsuit; he had to stop at a shop and buy her one. It was a miracle she wasn’t picky about the type of swimsuit or cared about sex-appeal, or even how revealing such attire could be and grabbed the first one in her size.

She didn’t have a wrap and instead of taking him up on his offer to buy her one, she merely grabbed his scarf and wrapped it around her hips. It was… a tad aggravating but he held his tongue. It wasn’t as if she could’ve simply have _asked_ him but that was her nature. Serena didn’t understand the purpose of sunscreen. “Isn’t it so I get pale like you?”

“No, that’s…” He paused briefly, taking a moment to scrunch his nose in discomfort from her accusation of why exactly he was so pale. Reiji pushed up his glasses, taking a long deep breath and held back the urge to explain that his complexion had very little to do with bathing in sunscreen. “It’s to protect your skin from getting damaged in the sun all day.”

“Oh.” Serena grabbed the bottle, relatively understanding his point until she started squeezing the entire bottle onto her arms and legs. Her frustration from the smell and how slippery she was becoming. Her skin had turned practically into snow, the lotion barely absorbing into her skin.

“You put too much.”

“You can’t have too much protection!”

Reiji snorted, holding out his hand to her and she reluctantly returned the bottle. “You’re not supposed to put so much.” He put merely a dab on his own hand and started rubbing and smoothing it over his arm. “Now you just smell like an oil rig.”

Serena huffed, crossing her arms over her chest and turned away from him – back to the ocean.

Which led him to the most fascinating observation of the afternoon.

Reiji was about ninety-nine percent certain that Serena couldn’t swim, or rather – couldn’t swim well. The way she avoided even stepping into the water, to merely stand in it and was stepping back as much as she could; distancing herself. He remembered of the time he traveled across dimensions and made his way to Academia. Their fated meeting as children… she asked him for a boat.

The view from the docks was similar to this. A lone island surrounded by water and seagulls overhead – but there were no barriers this time. No guards stopping her from doing as she pleased. “Your sunscreen is waterproof.” Reiji said as he cleared his throat causing Serena to turn her head back to him. Her eyes were still lost, deep in whatever thoughts she had before.

He was certain of it now.

“… teach me how to swim.”

Reiji waved a brow at her ‘request’, if he could even call it that it was phrased more like a demand. He figured she didn’t know how to swim. Knowing her stubborn personality, she would’ve jumped headfirst into water and swam to the shore when they were children – danger of the unknown waters be damned. This kind of request; it was usually done in a controlled environment. Like a pool where there was a set height limit and lifeguards and no waves for that matter. There was a private pool at Leo Corporations; there was no need to go outside! “Is that why you wanted to come here?”

Serena nodded as she unwrapped his scarf from around her waist. “I want to learn to swim.”

“We could’ve done this back inside though. There’s an adequate pool with safety-”

“No!” She threw the scarf back at his head, watching it fall to the sand and huffed once more. “I want to learn _here_. Damn it Reiji, this isn’t the shores of Academia but it’s the closest I can get to it. Now show me how to swim or I’ll do it myself!”

Aside from the weak slap to the face he felt from his scarf, Reiji was… rather moved. He almost held pity for her. She mentioned Academia and if he thought about it, she was the only student there with no freedom. Every other student there was probably allowed to swim in the ocean waters – except her. Even the view from LDS was one that stretched out to the ocean, no different than the tower she must’ve been stuck in.

Reiji sighed, taking a few steps forward as the waves reached into his toes. He winced slightly from how cold the water was and turned his body slightly, stretching out his hand. “Come on then.”

Serena stared for a moment, at his hand and then back at the water – her movements slow and deliberate as she stepped forward. His fingers gently enclosed around her hand and pulled her forward. As her foot touched the cool water, Serena screamed and practically jumped against Reiji – the sudden force splashing them both as she shrieked again, and he laughed.

“It’s fucking cold!” She was shivering, pressing against Reiji’s chest which was warmer in comparison to the water.

Reiji found it harder to laugh with Serena so close, with so much of himself exposed to her… he lifted his glasses above his head, the world fuzzy as could be and Serena nothing more than an attractive blur of blue and yellow hues. “Yea, that’s ocean water Serena.”

“Well… take me d-deeper already!”

Reiji shook his head. “Can’t.”

“Why not?!”

“I can’t swim either.”

“Then why the hell-!” Serena huffed. She was torn between pushing him away, angry that he didn’t say anything much sooner. But the water… the waves were coming in and she instead clung onto him, shivering and holding back her screams of the cold. “Why’d you come in the water then!”

Reiji shrugged. “You said you were going to do it yourself. I can’t very well have you drown and I’m cautious enough for the both of us…” It was a complete disaster.

Serena grumbled under her breath, something about Reiji and stupid – he couldn’t quite make it out but he grasped what the gist of it was. Instead of yelling at him some more for being _considerate_ as he was, Serena pulled him down with her onto the sand. She pushed him until he was sitting down and she sat as well, squirming slightly as she sat atop his lap in an attempt to make herself comfortable. “… if we’re gonna drown, you might as well wrap your arms around me.”

He didn’t hesitate to do as she asked, wrapping his arms around her waist in an almost protective hold, her back pressed firmly against his chest as the waves came up under them. “We’re not going to drown, we’re much too close to shore.” That and Serena was hardly touching the water; Reiji was taking on all the ocean water, sand and any perceived danger the water posed.

“… just shut up already. God Reiji, you’re so ridiculous.”

Maybe later, she’d give him a kiss for cooperating so much. But for now, she wanted to watch the sea go by – be as close to the ocean again with the same one who saw this sight with her all those years ago.


End file.
